Table of Contents
Preface
Chapter 1: Lights, Camera, and Action!
Chapter 2: Working with 2D Characters
Chapter 3: Combining Sprites with Backgrounds
Chapter 4: Working with 3D Characters
Chapter 5: Controlling the Cameras: Giving Life to Lights and Actions
Chapter 6: Controlling Input Devices to Provide Great Feedback
Chapter 7: Using Effects and Textures to Amaze
Chapter 8: Animating 3D Characters
Chapter 9: Adding Realistic Motions Using a Physics Engine
Chapter 10: Applying Artificial Intelligence
Chapter 11: Applying Special Effects
Chapter 12: Controlling Statistics and Scoring
Chapter 13: Adding Environments and Scenarios
Chapter 14: Adding Sound, Music, and Video
Appendix: Pop Quiz Answers
Index
- Chapter 1: Lights, Camera, and Action!
- UFOs in the sky!: Invaders
- Time for action – preparing the development environment
- Time for action – recognizing digital art assets
- Time for action – creating the raster digital content
- Digital Content Creation tools
- Basic elements of a 2D and/or 3D real-time game
- Programming responsibilities
- Time for action – installing tools to manipulate scalable digital content
- XAML works fine with Silverlight 3
- Time for action – creating the scalable digital content in XAML
- Previewing and scaling XAML vector graphics
- Time for action – testing the scalable digital content using XamlPad
- Editing vector illustrations using Expression Design
- Preparing a gaming framework
- Time for action – creating Silverlight applications
- Time for action – building and running Silverlight applications
- Programming event handlers in the main page
- Time for action – creating XBAP WPF applications
- Time for action – building and running the XBAP WPF applications
- Summary
- UFOs in the sky!: Invaders
- Chapter 2: Working with 2D Characters
- Creating an accelerated graphics viewport
- Time for action – enabling hardware acceleration
- Time for action – transforming media using the GPU
- Caching rendered content
- Scaling and rotating a vector-based illustration
- Time for action – shaking many illustrations at the same time
- Running loops faster
- Accelerating transforms and blends
- Using 2D vectors
- Time for action – detecting GPU-acceleration problems
- Understanding GPU acceleration limitations
- Creating encapsulated object-oriented characters
- Time for action – creating User Control classes to hold images
- Time for action – displaying images and sprites
- Showing a sprite on the screen
- Defining the behavior
- Understanding dimensions
- Managing resolutions
- Screen resolutions
- Summary
- Creating an accelerated graphics viewport
- Chapter 3: Combining Sprites with Backgrounds
- The first remake assignment
- Time for action – creating sprites based on XAML vector-based graphics
- Defining the relative center point
- Time for action – creating a specialized sprite management class
- Taking full advantage of object-oriented capabilities
- Preparing the classes for inheritance
- Wrapping a UserControl to manage it
- Time for action – creating a superclass for some characters
- Time for action – creating the subclasses for the characters
- Time for action – creating methods for the game loop
- Creating objects on the fly
- Managing dynamic objects
- Time for action – writing the game loop
- Animating multiple sprites
- Managing a complex game loop
- Time for action – detecting collisions between 2D characters
- Using colors to paint sprites
- Summary
- The first remake assignment
- Chapter 4: Working with 3D Characters
- The second remake assignment
- Time for Action – exporting a 3D model without considering textures
- XAML 3D models
- Time for action – from DCC tools to WPF
- XBAP WPF applications with 3D content
- Time for action – displaying a 3D model in a 2D screen with WPF
- Understanding the 3D world
- X, Y, and Z in practice
- GPU 3D acceleration
- Understanding meshes
- Time for action – using other XAML exporter for DCC tools
- Time for action – adding 3D elements and interacting with them using Expression Blend
- Interacting with 3D elements using Expression Blend
- Silverlight and the 3D world
- Time for action – exporting a 3D model to ASE
- Time for action – installing Balder 3D engine
- Time for action – from DCC tools to Silverlight
- Displaying a 3D model in a 2D screen with Silverlight
- Using 3D vectors
- Summary
- The second remake assignment
- Chapter 5: Controlling the Cameras: Giving Life to Lights and Actions
- Understanding 3D cameras
- Time for action – when seeing is believing
- Controlling the position, the direction, and the up vector
- Time for action – performing transformations
- Defining and applying transformations
- Time for action – zooming in and out
- Controlling the perspective field of view
- Controlling the clipping planes
- Time for action – understanding perspective and orthographic cameras
- Silverlight and the cameras
- Time for action – controlling cameras on the fly
- Understanding cameras related to matrixes
- Summary
- Understanding 3D cameras
- Chapter 6: Controlling Input Devices to Provide Great Feedback
- Giving life to the game!
- Time for action – creating a keyboard manager class
- Using the keyboard
- Time for action – programming the input control in the game loop
- Time for action – mapping a gamepad to the keyboard
- Understanding the gamepad as an input device
- Time for action – using the gamepad
- Time for action – creating a mouse manager class
- Using the mouse
- Time for action – using the mouse manager in the game loop
- Time for action – using the gamepad as a mouse
- Time for action – rotating cameras using input devices
- Bridging with DirectInput capabilities
- Time for action – installing the necessary SDKs
- Considering deployment's additional requirements
- Time for action – understanding sticks and buttons
- Understanding the steering wheel as an input device
- Time for action – testing the input devices with a DirectInput wrapper
- Understanding the analog axis for a steering wheel
- Understanding the analog axis for a gamepad
- Time for action – adapting a joystick manager class
- Time for action – using the steering wheel in the game loop
- Using the joystick manager
- Working with many input devices
- Using other input devices
- Summary
- Giving life to the game!
- Chapter 7: Using Effects and Textures to Amaze
- Dressing characters using textures
- Time for action – adding textures in DCC tools
- Time for action – exporting 3D models from DCC tools to Silverlight
- Displaying a 3D model using textures in a 2D screen with Silverlight
- Time for action – enveloping 3D models
- Understanding textures
- Repeating textures as tiles
- Time for action – replacing textures
- Displaying lights, shadows, materials, and textures
- Time for action – working with lights and understanding shadows
- Understanding different kinds of lights
- Summary
- Dressing characters using textures
- Chapter 8: Animating 3D Characters
- Invaders 3D
- Time for action – adding a UFO
- Time for action – creating a new game superclass to generalize time management capabilities
- Time for action – specializing a game superclass
- Time for action – creating a subclass for a 3D character
- Using an Actor to represent a 3D character
- Time for action – adding an Actor to the game
- Moving 3D characters as Actors
- Time for action – rotating 3D characters
- Using the World matrix in order to perform transformations to meshes
- Performing compound transformations
- Time for action – scaling 3D characters
- Using the World matrix in order to scale meshes
- Using bones and skeletons
- Time for action – animating models with skeletons and bones
- Using skeletons and bones
- Time for action – adding an Actor with skeletons and bones to the game
- Understanding complex 3D animation techniques
- Summary
- Invaders 3D
- Chapter 9: Adding Realistic Motions Using a Physics Engine
- Using physical principles in games to beat invaders
- Time for action – installing Farseer Physics Engine
- Time for action – adding parallel physics bodies and geometries to 3D characters
- Creating bodies
- Creating geometries
- Updating a 3D model according to the associated body's properties
- Time for action – working with forces, impulses, acceleration, and speed
- Specifying the gravitational force
- Applying forces
- Applying impulses
- Working with a 2D physics simulator in the game loop
- Time for action – working with torques and rotations
- Applying torques
- Translating 2D physics to a 3D world
- Working with Farseer Physics Engine in XBAP WPF applications
- Summary
- Using physical principles in games to beat invaders
- Chapter 10: Applying Artificial Intelligence
- Detecting collisions between 3D characters
- Time for action – adding a second UFO
- Time for action – detecting collisions between 3D characters
- Working with advanced responses to collisions
- Controlling collision moments using events
- Working with collision categories
- Using engines to improve collision detection precision
- Using artificial intelligence in games to control 3D characters
- Time for action – using chasing algorithms
- Working with states for the characters
- Pursuing an enemy
- Generating and controlling random situations
- Time for action – using evasion algorithms
- Evading an enemy
- The advantages of using an AI engine
- Summary
- Detecting collisions between 3D characters
- Chapter 11: Applying Special Effects
- Working with 3D characters in the background
- Time for action – adding a transition to start the game
- Time for action – creating a low polygon count meteor model
- Time for action – from 3D Studio Max to Silverlight
- Time for action – creating a subclass for a 3D meteor
- Time for action – creating and controlling a meteor rain
- Advantages of using multiple physics engines
- Time for action – simulating fluids with movement
- Simulating waves
- Time for action – creating a subclass for a complex asteroid belt
- Using an Actor to represent a wave in the background
- Time for action – adding an asteroid belt background to the game
- Working with encapsulated physics controllers
- Summary
- Working with 3D characters in the background
- Chapter 12: Controlling Statistics and Scoring
- Showing gauges and scorecards
- Time for action – using special fonts
- Embedding fonts in the project
- Time for action – creating a score gauge showing text
- Using Expression Blend to create 2D gauges
- Time for action – showing a score gauge
- Calculating, saving, and showing statistics
- Time for action – creating a bonus gauge showing text
- Time for action – creating a fuel gauge
- Time for action – creating a remaining lives gauge
- Using a panel to show many aligned user controls
- Time for action – showing and updating multiple gauges
- Working with multiple gauges
- Summary
- Showing gauges and scorecards
- Chapter 13: Adding Environments and Scenarios
- Working with levels and stages
- Time for action – installing Windows Presentation Foundation
- Pixel Shader Effects Library
- Time for action – adding screens to organize the game
- Time for action – applying transition effects
- Rendering a WriteableBitmap and using it as an ImageBrush
- Creating a StoryBoard
- Working with a StoryBoard to animate an effect
- Time for action – changing the transition effect
- Exploring transition effects
- Working with multiple transition effects
- Time for action – using skill levels
- Time for action – changing and improving the environments according to the skill level
- Retrieving values for parameters using LINQ to XML
- Time for action – saving configurations
- Summary
- Working with levels and stages
- Chapter 14: Adding Sound, Music, and Video
- Hear the UFOs coming
- Time for action – installing tools to manipulate videos
- Time for action – preparing a video to use it in Silverlight
- Video formats supported in Silverlight 3
- Using free applications to convert video formats
- Time for action – reproducing videos
- Locating videos in a related web site
- Stretching videos
- Taking advantage of GPU acceleration to scale videos
- Time for action – applying projections
- Time for action – animating projections
- Working with a StoryBoard in XAML to animate a projection
- Time for action – solving navigation problems
- Time for action – reproducing music
- Time for action – preparing audio files to use them in Silverlight
- Audio formats supported in Silverlight 3
- Using free applications to convert audio formats
- Time for action – creating a class to handle audio concurrency
- Using a round robin algorithm to work with concurrent sounds
- Time for action – generating sounds associated to game events
- Summary
- Hear the UFOs coming
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